In January, Barua was appointed chief coach of the Indian women's team that beat a visiting club side from the Netherlands in one of the two friendly matches in Pune.

New Delhi: Former international player Anadi Barua was on Saturday retained as chief coach of the Indian women's football team for the 2014 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers to be held in Palestine in May.

Barua, a FIFA diploma holder, has been given the charge of the women's team for the Group D qualifying round matches to be held in West Bank from May 21-25.

In January, Barua was appointed chief coach of the Indian women's team that beat a visiting club side from the Netherlands in one of the two friendly matches in Pune.

Barua represented India in Nehru Gold Cup and he was an integral member of Delhi for seven years in Santosh Trophy. He has been an All India Football Federation selector for different age-group teams. He has also been the coach of Delhi in Santosh Trophy.

The camp for the national players starts on April 1 in Pune. The team will visit Nepal and Bahrain before proceeding to Palestine for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers.

AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers will be played at four venues each hosting a group competition in a one-round league. The winners of each group will join the four automatic qualifiers -- Australia, North Korea, Japan and China -- in the eight-team final round to be held next year.

Australia had won the 2010 edition with North Korea finishing runners-up. Japan and China had finished third and fourth respectively.